Rowley was Charles II’s favourite hack, and the king himself in due course was nicknamed “Old Rowley”. Charles’s love of racing extended to owning and riding, and the final mile of the straight course used in spring and autumn is called the Rowley Mile. Rowley the horse was a successful stallion, as was his owner. Charles fathered at least twelve children, none with his wife – and it was remarked, with a degree of exaggeration, that a king should be a father to his people and Charles was father to at least half his.
Old Rowley used to be the pen name of the Sporting Chronicle’s gallop-watcher at Newmarket.
In 1940 a horse called Old Rowley won Australia’s most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup.
There were almost certainly “Rowley” races at Newmarket before a series of handicaps and sellers at the Craven meeting began in 1948. The race settled down as a maiden from 1959 and 1986. There have been other occasional maidens and handicaps since.
Indirect fallout of Newmarket’s autumn meetings losing races to Ascot to fill Champions Day was the creation of a valuable mile and a half handicap in October 2014. In 2015 it was called The Old Rowley Cup and it has stayed in the programme since. It is, oxymoronically, a new Heritage Handicap.
Sources include:
The Heath and the Turf (Richard Onslow)
https://www.betfred.com/events/sports/horse-racing/future-champions-day